Sasuke (サスケ; stylized in Japan as SASUKE) is a Japanese sports entertainmenttelevision special in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four-stage obstacle course. An edited version, named Ninja Warrior, is screened in at least 18 other countries. To date, Sasuke content has been aired in 157 countries.

Recorded on location at Midoriyama studio in Yokohama, it airs on Tokyo Broadcasting System between Japanese television drama seasons. The show name Sasuke is named after Sarutobi Sasuke, a fictitious character in Japanese storytelling.[2] Each 3-hour special (with the exception of Sasuke 24 which lasted 5 1/2 hours) covers an entire competition; there are normally 100 participants. There have been 34 specials produced, approximately one new special per year (twice per year before Monster9's bankruptcy, now reduced to once per year since 2012 except in 2017). The show is produced by TBS and is one of the spin-offs of Muscle Ranking(筋肉番付,Kinniku Banzuke), another sports entertainment competition, which aired on G4 under the name Unbeatable Banzuke. Until the 10th competition, Sasuke was broadcast as a special part of Muscle Ranking, but it became an independent program when Muscle Ranking was discontinued. The first competition was held indoors, marking the only time Sasuke did not take place outside. Competitions generally start in the daytime and continue until completed regardless of weather or darkness.[3] After Monster9's bankruptcy in November 2011, all rights to the show fell completely into the hands of its broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System. Following their acquisition of all rights to Sasuke, TBS renamed the show Sasuke Rising for the 28th, 29th and 30th editions, but have since reverted to the original name.

Applicants are interviewed or auditioned and trial rounds are held to test their physical ability until the field is narrowed to 100 competitors. Sasuke consists of four stages of increasing difficulty; competitors must complete a stage to advance. Before the 18th tournament, a 1200-meter run was held in order to determine the competitors' starting positions. Each competition is taped prior to the air date, edited for time, and broadcast as a 3-hour show. Exceptions may be made as in Sasuke 24's case should TBS decide the broadcast should go over 3-hours, but this is a rare exception.

In its 34 seasons, all four stages of the course were only completed a total of five times, by four different competitors. These were Kazuhiko Akiyama[4] in the 4th competition (1999), Makoto Nagano in the 17th competition (2006), Yuuji Urushihara in the 24th (2010) and 27th (2011) competitions,[5] and Yusuke Morimoto in the 31st competition (2015).

The popularity of Sasuke has led to the creation of a number of spin-off shows and international versions of the show. Kunoichi, perhaps the most well-known spin off, is a version of Sasuke restricted to female competitors with an emphasis on speed, balance, and stability.

American Ninja Warrior is the United States version of show. Originally integrated with Sasuke (with American finalists participating on the Sasuke course in Japan), it was at one point the G4 network's highest rated show.[6] As of season 4, American Ninja Warrior's popularity has allowed it to move to the NBC network and expand as a stand-alone spin-off with a full replica course in Las Vegas.

The show hosts a broad spectrum of participants. While most are from Japan, national television personalities and Olympians from other countries, including the US, Bulgaria, China and Korea, have taken part in the competition. Some of the more enthusiastic competitors dress up in costumes, bring props to the starting stage, or show off some of their talents. As of the 34th competition, there are approximately 3,400 participants who have competed on Sasuke.

The Sasuke All-Stars are a group of six favored competitors, established by the TBS network, originally thought to be the most likely to clear all four stages. It includes two of the men to complete the Sasuke course, Kazuhiko Akiyama (1999, 4th tournament) and Makoto Nagano (2006, 17th tournament). The membership of the All-Stars has remained unchanged despite other successful competitors in later tournaments, notably, Yuuji Urushihara who completed the course in the 24th and 27th tournaments. The All-Stars were officially 'retired' in the 28th tournament, only two of them continue to compete, and are now referred to as 'former All-Stars'.

The six consist of:

Kazuhiko Akiyama (ja), a crab fisherman and massage therapist. He is known for being the first contestant to ever achieve Total Victory. He has not been able to repeat his success, being hindered by an eye condition known as degenerative retinosis that has been affecting him for years. Overall, he has competed 20 times and has been officially retired since SASUKE 28 in 2012. An offer was made for Akiyama to return for the 30th anniversary tournament in 2014, but he declined and has remained retired since.

Akiyama's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

2nd

100

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

3rd

99

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

4th

86

Kanzenseiha (6.0 seconds to spare)

Final

5th

Did not compete

6th

100

Failed Jump Hang

First

7th

99

Failed Jump Hang

First

8th

99

Failed Jump Hang

First

9th

100

Failed Quintuple Step

First

10th

981

Failed Warped Wall

First

11th

99

Failed Body Prop

Third

12th

97

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

13th

91

Failed Crooked Wall

First

14th

71

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

15th

81

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

16th

71

Failed Metal Spin

Second

17th

71

Failed Circle Slider

First

18th - 19th

Did not compete

20th

1901

Failed Halfpipe Attack

First

21st

Did not compete

22nd

20

Failed Halfpipe Attack

First

23rd

Did not compete

24th

62

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

25th

98

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

26th - 27th

Did not compete

28th

96

Failed Spinning Bridge

First

Makoto Nagano, a fisherman and fishing boat captain. Known for reaching the final stage more than anyone else, five times in total, and being the second person to complete the entire course. He wears #100 most of the time (15 out of his 26 competitions). Overall, he has competed 26 times, a number surpassed only by three of his fellow All-Stars: Katsumi Yamada, Toshihiro Takeda and Shingo Yamamoto, and has been officially retired since SASUKE 32 in 2016.

Nagano's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

7th

87

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

8th

41

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

9th

61

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

10th

999

Failed Jump Hang

First

11th

96

Failed Rope Climb (about 20m up)

Final

12th

100

Failed Rope Climb (by 0.11 seconds)

Final

13th

100

Failed Rope Climb (about 22.4m up)

Final

14th

100

Failed Jumping Bars

Third

15th

100

Failed Metal Spin

Second

16th

100

Failed Devil Swing

Third

17th

99

Kanzenseiha (2.56 seconds to spare)

Final

18th

96

Failed Shin-Cliffhanger (Disqualified) †

Third

19th

100

Failed Flying Chute

First

20th

2000

Failed Downhill Jump

Second

21st

100

Failed Gliding Ring

Third

22nd

100

Failed Slider Jump

First

23rd

100

Failed G-Rope* (by 0.2 seconds)

Final

24th

100

Failed Jumping Spider

First

25th

99

Failed Circle Slider

First

26th

99

Failed Jumping Spider

First

27th

100

Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger

Third

28th

100

Failed Second Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

29th

100

Failed Second Warped Wall (Time Out)(injured)

First

30th

2999

Failed Swap Salmon Ladder (Disqualified)

Second

31st

98

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

32nd

100

Failed Lumberjack Climb (Time Out)

First

† – Nagano touched the top of the Shin-Cliff Hanger after swinging from the second to the third ledge. He disqualified himself, admitting his error and bowing out after he reached the next platform.

* – Nagano was allowed a second attempt at the first stage due to a malfunction of the Slider Jump.

Toshihiro Takeda (ja), a firefighter. Known for reaching the third stage more than anyone else. He can usually be seen wearing his trademark orange firefighter pants and dark blue shirt, though he changed his trademark clothes since SASUKE 30 after he quit his firefighter job. However, he is the only All-Star that hasn't made it to the final stage yet. Overall, he has competed 26 times and continues to compete to this day. The only times he didn't appear was in SASUKE 26 and SASUKE 27 due to not wanting a risk due to his new job as a Helicopter Rescue Jumper.

Takeda's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

5th

74

Failed Spider Walk

Second

6th

93

Failed Body Prop

Third

7th

96

Failed Rope Climb

First

8th

71

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

9th

97

Failed Globe Grasp

Third

10th

997

Failed Jump Hang

First

11th

97

Failed Body Prop

Third

12th

95

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

13th

98

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

14th

97

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

15th

96

Failed Devil Swing

Third

16th

98

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

17th

91

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

18th

†

Failed Salmon Ladder

Second

19th

96

Failed Warped Wall

First

20th

1995

Failed Rope Ladder

First

21st

98

Failed Ascending Climb

Third

22nd

92

Failed Jumping Spider

First

23rd

97

Failed Spider Flip

Third

24th

98

Failed Spider Flip

Third

25th

70

Failed Double Salmon Ladder

Second

26th - 27th

Did not compete

28th

97

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

29th

95

Failed Hedgehog

First

30th

2980

Failed Swap Salmon Ladder

Second

31st

93

Failed Rolling Hill

First

32nd

98

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

33rd

90

Failed Salmon Ladder Kudari

Second

34th

91

Failed Salmon Ladder Kudari

Second

† – Takeda had no number in the 18th tournament. He was around the 86th person to run the course.

Shingo Yamamoto (ja), a gas station manager. Only person never to miss a single tournament. He is also the only person to have attempted the first and second version of the Final Stage in SASUKE 3 and SASUKE 7. He can be seen wearing his trademark gas station uniform shirt and cap (always with Esso/Mobil branding); he has only competed without it seven times (the 1st, 4th, and 28th since he changed his jobs). He continues to compete to this day.

Yamamoto's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

1st

7

Failed Dodging Hammer

Second

2nd

20

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

3rd

13

Failed Rope Climb

Final

4th

98

Failed Balance Bridge

First

5th

98

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

6th

96

Failed Rolling Log

First

7th

97

Failed Spider Climb (injured†)

Final

8th

98

Failed Rope Climb

First

9th

98

Failed Rumbling Dice

Third

10th

998

Failed Rope Climb

First

11th

98

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

12th

96

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

13th

76

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

14th

98

Failed Curtain Cling

Third

15th

95

Failed Body Prop

Third

16th

97

Failed Jump Hang

First

17th

98

Failed Body Prop

Third

18th

61

Failed Flying Chute

First

19th

81

Failed Jumping Spider

First

20th

1981

Failed Halfpipe Attack

First

21st

71

Failed Flying Chute

First

22nd

31

Failed Halfpipe Attack

First

23rd

93

Failed Arm Rings (injured†)

Third

24th

96

Failed Tarzan Rope

First

25th

90

Failed Balance Tank

Second

26th

94

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

27th

81

Failed Spinning Bridge

First

28th

98

Failed Spinning Bridge

First

29th

36

Failed Backstream

Second

30th

2992

Failed Backstream

Second

31st

92

Failed Rolling Hill

First

32nd

99

Failed Double Pendulum

First

33rd

91

Failed Double Pendulum

First

34th

92

Failed Double Pendulum

First

† – Yamamoto was hurt in the 7th competition when he dislocated his shoulder and in the 23rd he re-injured his shoulder.

Bunpei Shiratori (ja), a government worker in the Health and Service department. He is also known for building obstacles in his backyard (over 13 of them, in fact), and many competitors have visited his home to train on the 'Shiratori Shrine' (However, as of SASUKE 30, it has been demolished). He has competed the least of the All-Stars: only 12 times due to chronic back and neck pains that have continued to plague him for years. Despite having only competed once since SASUKE 21, he is not officially retired and has not ruled out the possibility of returning should his health permit it, although this is unlikely.

Shiratori's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

9th

79

Failed Warped Wall

First

10th

Did not compete

11th

66

Failed Wall Lifting (Time Out)

Second

12th

77

Failed Rope Climb

Final

13th

99

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

14th

96

Failed Balance Tank

Second

15th

94

Failed Climbing Bars

Third

16th

96

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

17th

81

Failed Body Prop

Third

18th

95

Failed Jumping Spider

First

19th

82

Failed Flying Chute

First

20th

Did not compete (injured)

21st

83

Failed Downhill Jump

Second

22nd - 29th

Did not compete

30th

2997

Failed Jump Hang Kai

First

Katsumi Yamada (ja), a steel worker known as "Mr. Sasuke" or "Mr. Ninja Warrior". He was once thought to be the one most likely to complete the entire course by the tournament's producers, but has not passed the first stage in thirteen years, since tournament 12. He has "retired" from SASUKE on three separate occasions following the 12th, 24th and 28th tournaments, but returned each time nonetheless. He was given the nickname "Mr. SASUKE" because he was once thought to be the most likely competitor to clear all four stages, but hasn't passed the first stage since SASUKE 12. Overall, he has competed 27 times, second only to Yamamoto Shingo, but has been barred from competing since SASUKE 30 in 2014. However, on a broadcast of Nico Nico in December 2016, Inui Masato revealed to the chat that Katsumi Yamada will be allowed to return as it is the 20th anniversary of the show since it began airing in 1997, should he be healthy enough to compete.[7]

Yamada's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

1st

92

Failed Dodging Hammer

Second

2nd

91

Failed Spider Walk

Second

3rd

89

Failed Rope Climb (Time Out)

Final

4th

100

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

5th

100

Failed Spider Walk

Second

6th

99

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

7th

100

Failed Rope Climb (Time Out)

First

8th

100

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

9th

99

Failed Wall Lifting (Time Out)

Second

10th

1000

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

11th

100

Failed Balance Tank

Second

12th

98

Disqualified on Spider Walk†

Second

13rd

Did not compete

14th

99

Failed Jump Hang

First

15th

99

Failed Cross Bridge

First

16th

99

Failed Rope Climb (Time Out)

First

17th

100

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

18th

73

Failed Rope Ladder (Time Out)

First

19th

91

Failed Jumping Spider

First

20th

1999

Failed Jumping Spider

First

21st

96

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)(injured)

First

22nd

81

Failed Jumping Spider

First

23rd

71

Failed Slider Jump

First

24th

80

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

25th

Did not compete

26th

90

Failed Jumping Spider

First

27th

91

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

28th

99

Failed First Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

29th

Did not compete

30th

2934

Failed Second Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

31st - 32nd

Did not compete

33rd

33

Failed Tie Fighter

First

† – In the 12th competition, Yamada was disqualified on the Spider Walk for failing to remove his gloves used on the Chain Reaction obstacle. Although he was disqualified, he did manage to clear the 2nd stage with 3.4 seconds remaining.

The Sasuke New Stars are recent competitors who have made a name for themselves on the recent editions of the course. "Shin Sedai" or New Stars was famous since Sasuke 17, after Shunsuke Nagasaki made it to the Final Stage, after 6 years hiatus he competed again Sasuke 29. During his hiatus, there was no one who called Shunsuke as the New Stars. New Stars was familiar again since Yuuji and Kanno made it to the Third Stage at Sasuke 22.

Shunsuke Nagasaki (ja), a trampolinist. He is considered one of the most promising of recent competitors.[citation needed] This skilled trampolinist, who is called "Prince of the Trampoline", has won several medals in the Trampoline World Cups and Doha Asian Games. He made his debut in SASUKE 14. He is the first people to called the "Shin Sedai" in Sasuke 17, however, he made the first Final Stage appearance in SASUKE 17 in 19 years, the second youngest people to reach the final stage. He failed the First Stage in Sasuke 19, after that he hasn't competed for 6 years. Since 2012, he retired from athlete. He made his comeback on SASUKE 29, however he timed out in the Passing Wall. He failed the Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 30. He timed out in the Lumberjack Climb in SASUKE 31 but his run was all cut. He failed the Flying Bar in SASUKE 32 and fail it again in SASUKE 33. Surprisingly, he failed Spider Walk in SASUKE 34. As of 2017, Nagasaki has completed the First Stage 10 times (5 consecutively), the Second Stage 7 times (4 consecutively), and the Third Stage once.

Nagasaki's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

14th

67

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

15th

65

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

16th

89

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

17th

87

Failed Rope Climb

Final

18th

97

Failed Shin-Cliffhanger

Third

19th

97

Failed Flying Chute

First

20th - 28th

Did not compete

29th

93

Failed Wall Lift

Second

30th

2986

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

31st

88

Failed Lumberjack Climb (Time Out)

First

32nd

87

Failed Flying Bar

Third

33rd

98

Failed Flying Bar

Third

34th

95

Failed Spider Walk

Second

Yuuji Urushihara (ja), a shoe salesman, an Unlimited Cliffer member No. 3.[clarification needed] He spent upwards of five years trying to qualify through the SASUKE Trials. Finally, he qualified for SASUKE 21, and in the next tournament became the first competitor to reach Shin-SASUKE's final stage. He got his Final Stage attempt in SASUKE 22, but he failed it close to the button. In SASUKE 24, he became the third person to achieve Kanzenseiha, and in SASUKE 27, he went on to become the only person to achieve it twice. In SASUKE 28, he failed the Crazy Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 29, he failed the Backstream. In SASUKE 30, he timed out on the Wall Lifting. In SASUKE 31, he took more time to clear the Tackle and timed out on the Soritatsu Kabe. In SASUKE 32, he was one of the notable competitors who failed on the new obstacle Double Pendulum when he failed the transition to the red sandbag. In SASUKE 33, he surprisingly failed Rolling Hill. He made a good transition from Quad Steps to the Rolling Hill, but he lost balance in the middle of the Rolling Hill. In SASUKE 34, he declare that if he failed the First Stage again, he would retire himself. Then the results shows that he cleared the First Stage, but he struggles in Reverse Conveyor and timed up there.

Urushihara's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

72

Failed Flying Chute

First

22nd

77

Failed G-Rope

Final

23rd

99

Failed Unstable Bridge

Second

24th

93

Kanzenseiha (3.57 seconds to spare)

Final

25th

100

Failed Double Salmon Ladder

Second

26th

100

Failed Half-Pipe Attack

First

27th

99

Kanzenseiha (6.71 seconds to spare)

Final

28th

88

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

29th

99

Failed Backstream

Second

30th

2993

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

31st

99

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

32nd

89

Failed Double Pendulum

First

33rd

89

Failed Rolling Hill

First

34th

99

Failed Reverse Conveyor

Second

Hitoshi Kanno (ja), a janitorial worker/jewelry designer. He has been considered one of the most serious contenders to kanzenseiha. In SASUKE 23, when Nagano Makoto joined him in the Final Stage, it was heard that Kanno was the leader of the Shin Sedai. After that in SASUKE 24, Kanno timed out on the First Stage, then in SASUKE 25 he failed the Balance Tank on the Second Stage. Then in SASUKE 26 he failed the Rolling Escargot on First Stage and in SASUKE 27 he withdrew before the Salmon Ladder on the Second Stage. Then he reached the Third Stage in SASUKE 28, 29, 30, and 31, failing the Crazy Cliffhanger the first three times, but clearing it on his fourth attempt. He failed on the next obstacle, Vertical Limit Kai. He timed out at the top of the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 32, after dislocating his shoulder. In SASUKE 33, he surprisingly failed Rolling Hill, he jump from the down of Rolling Hill too high but he couldn't save himself from his fell. He did not compete in SASUKE 34.

Kanno's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

20th

1976

Failed Jumping Spider

First

21st

Did not compete

22nd

49

Disqualified on Spider Flip †

Third

23rd

96

Failed G-Rope

Final

24th

99

Failed Tarzan Rope

First

25th

89

Failed Balance Tank

Second

26th

93

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

27th

1

Withdrew on Double Salmon Ladder ‡

Second

28th

89

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

29th

97

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

30th

2996

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

31st

96

Failed Vertical Limit Kai

Third

32nd

96

Failed Tarzan Rope (Injured††)

First

33rd

92

Failed Rolling Hill

First

34th

Did not compete

† – Kanno touched part of the frame with his foot and climbed along the side of the platform, thereby going off the course.
‡ - Kanno withdrew before Double Salmon Ladder because of a shoulder injury.
†† - Kanno dislocated his shoulder immediately after clearing the Warped Wall, and timed out on top of the wall.

Kouji Hashimoto (ja), a gym instructor. He qualified through the SASUKE Trials in three straight tournaments. He failed the First Stage in his early performances, in SASUKE 21 & SASUKE 22. In SASUKE 23, he finally cleared the First Stage, and in the next tournament, he made it all the way to the Final Stage, along with Li En Zhi, Urushihara Yuuji, Takahashi Kenji, and Okuyama Yoshiyuki, where he ultimately timed out mere centimeters from the goal. In SASUKE 25, he failed the Ultimate Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 26, he surprisingly failed at the Metal Spin when he lost his grip. In SASUKE 27, he became the first person to cross the Ultimate Cliffhanger, but he failed the Chain See-Saw. In SASUKE 28, he surprisingly failed at the Spin Bridge when he lost his balance on the third bridge. In Sasuke 29, he failed the Backstream. After that tournament, he has never came back to SASUKE. In April 2016, he made it to the Nico Nico Broadcast with some Sasuke New Stars for the Osaka Audition.

Hashimoto's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

42

Failed Warped Wall

First

22nd

76

Failed Slider Jump

First

23rd

47

Failed Salmon Ladder

Second

24th

85

Failed G-Rope

Final

25th

60

Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger

Third

26th

98

Failed Metal Spin

Second

27th

20

Failed Chain Seesaw

Third

28th

40

Failed Spinning Bridge

First

29th

41

Failed Backstream

Second

30th - 34th

Did not compete

Naoya Tajima (ja), a transportation worker. He has competed five times, failing in each of the first three stages. His best performance was in SASUKE 24, where he reached the third stage but failed the final obstacle, the Gliding Ring. He failed the First Stage on the SASUKE 25 & SASUKE 26. In SASUKE 27, he failed the Stick Slider on the Second Stage.

Tajima's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

23rd

45

Failed Salmon Ladder

Second

24th

73

Failed Gliding Ring

Third

25th

49

Failed Circle Slider

First

26th

86

Failed Jumping Spider

First

27th

29

Failed Slider Drop

Second

Jun Sato (ja), a parkour instructor. He is a repeat qualifier from the SASUKE Trials. In SASUKE 23, he made it to the Second Stage, only to meet the obstacle that would become his nemesis, the Salmon Ladder. After two straight defeats, he finally cleared the Salmon Ladder, now the Double Salmon Ladder, in SASUKE 25, only to fail the next obstacle. He took a 7 tournament break before competing again in SASUKE 32, where he went the furthest of any domestic competitor, failing the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 33, he failed the Flying Bar, he failed the first transition after the bar touch the resting part. He failed the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 34.

Sato's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

44

Failed Log Grip

First

22nd

Did not compete

23rd

50

Failed Salmon Ladder

Second

24th

78

Failed Salmon Ladder

Second

25th

18

Failed Unstable Bridge

Second

26th - 31st

Did not compete

32nd

76

Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

33rd

97

Failed Flying Bar

Third

34th

96

Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

Ryo Matachi (ja), a former painter and a plumber. He has competed nine times, failing the first stage in his first three tries, but in SASUKE 27, his best performance, he made it to the Final Stage, timing out mere inches from the buzzer on the Tsuna Nobori. In the next two tournaments, he failed the Passing Wall and Backstream, respectively. However, in SASUKE 30, he made it to the Final Stage where he almost got to the buzzer, but time ran out. In SASUKE 31 however Ryo fell a victim to the Warped Wall along with Nagano and Yuuji due to the endurance needed in order to complete the obstacle. In SASUKE 32, he timed out at the Tarzan Rope, after having trouble with the Tackle and Soritatsu Kabe. In SASUKE 33, he surprisingly failed the new obstacle Fishbone in the first transition although his run was digested. He surpisingly failed the Double Pendulum in SASUKE 34 and got digested once again.

Matachi's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

46

Failed Flying Chute

First

22nd - 24th

Did not compete

25th

6

Failed Circle Slider

First

26th

63

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

27th

62

Failed Rope Climb

Final

28th

87

Failed Passing Wall

Second

29th

98

Failed Backstream

Second

30th

2994

Failed Rope Climb

Final

31st

100

Failed Warped Wall (Time Out)

First

32nd

90

Failed Tarzan Rope (Time Out)

First

33rd

88

Failed Fishbone

First

34th

94

Failed Double Pendulum

First

Kazuma Asa (ja), a former hedge trimmer and a construction worker. He made his debut in SASUKE 21, however he timed out on the Soritatsu Kabe. In SASUKE 27, he made his First Stage clear, but he failed the Double Salmon Ladder after he losing his grip. Asa was considered an official member following his trip to the Third Stage in SASUKE RISING 28. He has made it to the Third Stage four times in a row, in SASUKE 28, 29, 30, and 31 failing the Crazy Cliffhanger in all four attempts. Being one of the very few people to ever fail one obstacle four times in a row. In SASUKE 32, he surprisingly failed early at the new obstacle, the TIE Fighter. In SASUKE 33, he made it clear the First and Second Stage again, and failed the Flying Bar after he can't control the bar on the first part of resting area. He did not compete in SASUKE 34.

Asa's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

45

Failed Warped Wall

First

22nd - 26th

Did not compete

27th

55

Failed Double Salmon Ladder

Second

28th

58

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

29th

96

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

30th

2998

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

31st

95

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

32nd

95

Failed Tie Fighter

First

33rd

95

Failed Flying Bar

Third

34th

Did not compete

Yusuke Morimoto (ja), an IDEC Corporation software engineer known as "Sasuke-Kun". He debuted in SASUKE 18, at the young age of 15, but failed the Jumping Spider. In SASUKE 19, he was still 15, and he got revenge on the Jumping Spider but failed the next obstacle, the Halfpipe Attack. He also competed in SASUKE 21 and 22, but was cut both times. He returned for SASUKE 27, at age 19, and cleared the First Stage. But in the Second Stage, the Metal Spin was his downfall. He made his best run on SASUKE 29, at age 21. In that tournament, he cleared the First Stage with 9.69 seconds left. He got revenge on the Second Stage, clearing with a slim 0.81 seconds left. In the Third Stage, despite almost failing the Iron Paddler, he cleared it and became the first person ever to beat the Crazy Cliffhanger. He almost made it to the Final Stage, but fell inches short on the Pipe Slider. He went further than everybody else that tournament and earned himself the #1 seat of Japan for the SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup. He timed up on the last part of Wall Lifting in SASUKE 30 wearing #3000. In 2015, he achieved total victory in SASUKE 31 with 2.5 seconds to spare. He did not compete in SASUKE 32. In SASUKE 33, the first time he competed after Total Victory, he made it to the Third Stage but he failed the Flying Bar after he overshoot the bar in the first transition. In SASUKE 34, he cleared the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger and made it to the Vertical Limit Kai. However, he lost his grip and fell down before the first transition.

Morimoto's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

18th

91

Failed Jumping Spider

First

19th

71

Failed Half-Pipe Attack

First

20th

Did not compete

21st

52

Failed Jumping Spider

First

22nd

27

Failed Warped Wall

First

23rd - 26th

Did not compete

27th

84

Failed Metal Spin

Second

28th

Did not compete

29th

79

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

30th

3000

Failed Wall Lifting (Time Out)

Second

31st

91

Kanzenseiha (2.59 seconds to spare)

Final

32nd

Did not compete

33rd

100

Failed Flying Bar

Third

34th

100

Failed Vertical Limit Kai

Third

Masashi Hioki (ja), an electronic store manager. He failed the SASUKE 21 Trials at the Jumping Ring, again in SASUKE 22 & SASUKE 23 Trials. He made his SASUKE debut in SASUKE 25, he failed the Circle Slider. He failed the First Stage back to back in SASUKE 26 & SASUKE 27. He has cleared the First Stage every tournament since SASUKE 29 but he failed the Backstream after he lost his stamina. He made it to the Third Stage in SASUKE 30 and SASUKE 31, both tournaments failing at the Crazy Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 32, he is the first notable competitors to failed surprisingly early on the new obstacle, Double Pendulum. In SASUKE 33, he rise again and cleared the First Stage, but in the Second Stage, he healed the water on the Backstream, and only have 10 seconds on the Reverse Conveyer and timed up there. In SASUKE 34, he made it to the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, but he failed the first jump.

Hioki's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

25th

92

Failed Circle Slider

First

26th

64

Failed Warped Wall

First

27th

61

Failed Giant Swing

First

28th

Did not compete

29th

73

Failed Backstream

Second

30th

2935

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

31st

31

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

32nd

31

Failed Double Pendulum

First

33rd

45

Failed Reverse Conveyer

Second

34th

45

Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

Tomohiro Kawaguchi (ja), a concrete mixer driver. He competed eight times, qualified through the SASUKE Trials. He made his debut in SASUKE 21. Then failed the Slider Jump in SASUKE 22. He cleared the First Stage for the first time in SASUKE 24, but he failed the Unstable Bridge. He failed the First Stage back to back in SASUKE 25 and SASUKE 27. In SASUKE 30, he cleared the Third Stage and made it to the Final Stage. However, he was slow on the Spider Climb and timed out at the Tsuna Nobori about 8m from the buzzer. In SASUKE 31, he failed to repeat his performance from the previous tournament, when he failed the Crazy Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 32, Kawaguchi once again he made it to the third stage, however he failed at the Flying Bar when he ran the obstacle in bad weather. In SASUKE 33, he surprisingly failed the Double Pendulum in the first stage, when he jumped to soon for the sandbag and his hand didn't get to grab onto it to it high enough, and he fell into the water. He show his revenge for last season in SASUKE 34, he made it to the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger and clearing the first transition, but he failed to make the transition into the moving ledge.

Kawaguchi's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

21st

47

Failed Half-Pipe Attack

First

22nd

78

Failed Slider Jump

First

23rd

Did not compete

24th

47

Failed Unstable Bridge

Second

25th

78

Failed Circle Slider

First

26th

Did not compete

27th

25

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

28th - 29th

Did not compete

30th

2967

Failed Rope Climb

Final

31st

97

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

32nd

97

Failed Flying Bar

Third

33rd

99

Failed Double Pendulum

First

34th

98

Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

Shinya Kishimoto (ja), a commercial salesman. He competed six times, having made his debut in SASUKE 25, when he failed the Dome Steps. He competed again in SASUKE 26, he failed the Rolling Escargot. In SASUKE 27, he failed at the Soritatsu Kabe. In SASUKE 30, he cleared the First Stage and Second Stage for the first time. In the Third Stage, he was the third person ever to clear the Crazy Cliffhanger, but he failed the Vertical Limit when he lost his grip. He withdrew from SASUKE 31 due to a back injury. In SASUKE 32, his run was all cut but from external information, it is known that he failed at the Soritatsu Kabe. In SASUKE 33, he was shown in Trailer he shockingly failed the first obstacle Quad Steps. His right foot was jumping too high making him lost balance and fell into the water. He did not compete in SASUKE 34.

Kenji Takahashi (ja), a 41-year-old delivery man from Saitama Prefecture, has competed fifteen times, with a 5-year break between his third and fourth attempts. He reached the third stage in competitions 7, 16, and 18 but failed the Cliff Hanger each time. He then failed the first stage four times, in the 19th through 22nd tournaments. In the 23rd competition, Takahashi failed the Gliding Ring. In the 24th, he made it to the final stage for the first time, but his support cable got tangled with the G-Rope, and he timed out a few meters short of completion. In the 25th competition, he made it to the third stage but failed the Ultimate Cliff Hanger. He returned in Sasuke 26, but failed the Rolling Escargot. He also competed in Sasuke 27, but failed the new Spinning Bridge in Stage 1. He returned to the Third Stage in Sasuke 29, but ultimately, slipped up on the transition to the second ledge of the Crazy Cliffhanger. He failed the second stage for the first time after disqualified in Swap Salmon Ladder in SASUKE 30. He failed the Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 31. He shocked many people after failed early at the new obstacle, Tie Fighter in SASUKE 32 and failed it again in SASUKE 33. He cleared the first stage in SASUKE 34, but he failed the second stage after struggling in Reverse Conveyer.

Takahashi's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

5th

? (Unknown)

Failed Rolling Log

First

6th

? (Unknown)

Failed Warped Wall

First

7th

46

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

8th - 15th

Did not compete

16th

66

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

17th

Did not compete

18th

98

Failed Shin-Cliffhanger

Third

19th

84

Failed Jumping Spider

First

20th

1988

Failed Flying Chute

First

21st

85

Failed Jumping Spider

First

22nd

80

Failed Rope Ladder

First

23rd

84

Failed Gliding Ring

Third

24th

94

Failed G-Rope

Final

25th

40

Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger

Third

26th

96

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

27th

15

Failed Spinning Bridge

First

28th

Did not compete

29th

87

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

30th

2995

Failed Swap Salmon Ladder

Second

31st

89

Failed Crazy Cliffhanger

Third

32nd

92

Failed Tie Fighter

First

33rd

87

Failed Tie Fighter

First

34th

83

Failed Reverse Conveyer

Second

Yoshiyuki Okuyama (ja), a former 200m run Japan representative of the 1991 World Championships in Athletics. He currently works as a Sports gym instructor and occasionally competes in Amateur Motorbike races as shown in SASUKE 24. He has competed in nine SASUKE tournaments and is one of the most consistent competitors, making it to the third stage six times and almost achieving kanzenseiha in SASUKE 24. Okuyama considers SASUKE his personal Olympics, and trains non-stop for the competition. However he failed the Backstream in SASUKE 29, making his third stage appearance record ended.

Okuyama's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

19th

39

Failed Warped Wall

First

20th

1924

Failed Stick Slider

Second

21st

95

Failed Warped Wall

First

22nd

84

Failed Shin-Cliffhanger

Third

23rd

92

Failed Spider Flip

Third

24th

95

Failed G-Rope

Final

25th

50

Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger

Third

26th

97

Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger

Third

27th

96

Failed Flying Bar

Third

28th

Did not compete

29th

89

Failed Backstream

Second

30th - 34th

Did not compete

Yusuke Suzuki, a PE teacher in a Junior High School in Kanagawa. He competed five times. He competed since SASUKE 16 but his run was all cut. After 7-year hiatus, he competed in SASUKE 28, he failed the Spin Bridge and the second wall of the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 30. He also competed in SASUKE 31 but his run was completely cut. He returned for SASUKE 32 wearing number 66, and completed the First Stage for the first time with just 2.12 seconds remaining. He then went on to clear the Second Stage, becoming one of 8 to do so, with 9.59 seconds remaining. However, his first attempt on the Third Stage was a struggle. On the first transition of the Drum Hopper he slipped and nearly fell, and only just managed to reposition himself, while the other transitions showed signs of unease. His strength was sapped for the next obstacle, the Flying Bar, where he failed the first transition after the bar did not reach the second set of rungs. In his fluff piece for SASUKE 32, it was falsely stated that he had failed the First Stage 4 times, when in fact he had competed for the first time 4 tournaments beforehand. In SASUKE 33, his run was digested but he failed the Double Pendulum. In SASUKE 34, he failed the Sidewinder Kai.

Suzuki's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

16th

?

Failed ?

First

17th - 27th

Did not compete

28th

24

Failed Spin Bridge

First

29th

Did not compete

30th

2943

Failed Double Warped Wall

First

31st

65

Failed Orugoru

First

32nd

66

Failed Flying Bar

Third

33rd

93

Failed Double Pendulum

First

34th

84

Failed Sidewinder Kai

Third

Hiroyuki Asaoka (ja), a former elementary school teacher turned illustrator. Known as "Sasuke Sensei" or Professor Ninja Warrior.

Asaoka's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

3rd

34

Failed Hammer Dodge

Second

4th

3

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

5th

27

Failed Jump Hang

First

6th

15

Failed Jump Hang

First

7th

29

Failed Jump Hang

First

8th - 9th

Did not compete

10th

954

Failed Body Prop

Third

11th

58

Failed Chain Reaction

Second

12th

72

Failed Rope Climb

Final

13th

Did not compete

14th

80

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

15th

91

Failed Rope Climb

First

Naoki Iketani (ja), a former gymnast, sports talent, and World Record Holder in Monster Box at 23 boxes.

Iketani's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

2nd

90

Failed Spinning Log

First

3rd

Did not compete

4th

81

Failed Pipe Slider

Third

5th

81

Failed Warped Wall

First

6th - 7th

Did not compete

8th

61

Failed Rolling Log

First

9th

81

Failed Wall Lifting

Second

10th

961

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

11th

61

Failed Cliffhanger

Third

12th

81

Failed Rope Climb

First

13th

90

Failed Body Prop

Third

14th

81

Failed Body Prop

Third

15th

90

Failed Warped Wall

First

16th

90

Failed Body Prop

Third

17th - 19th

Did not compete

20th

1983

Failed Jumping Spider

First

21st

93

Failed Flying Chute

First

22nd

97

Failed Warped Wall

First

23rd

Did not compete

24th

90

Failed Warped Wall

First

25th

Did not compete

26th

87

Failed Double Salmon Ladder

Second

27th

93

Failed Double Salmon Ladder

Second

28th

76

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

29th - 32nd

Did not compete

33rd

41

Failed Rolling Hill

First

Daisuke Nakata, a former Olympic trampolinist. He is most famous for being defeated by the same obstacle, stage 3's Globe Grasp, three times in a row.

Several Japanese athletes have competed in Sasuke over the years including, professional team handball player, Daisuke Miyazaki, who was featured in the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 26th competitions. In his debut, the 20th competition, he failed on the Halfpipe Attack. His best performance was in the Sasuke 21, where he made it all the way to the third stage devil steps. In Sasuke 22, he timed out on the net climb in stage 1, and in Sasuke 26, he failed the first stage Rolling Escargot.

After the 27th competition, 3 Japanese olympians competed: Tomoko Hagiwara, Koki Sakamoto, and Daisuke Nakano. Hagiwara competed in the 28th competition, but she failed the Quintuple Step. She also competed in the 29th competition, but she failed the Hedgehog. Sakamoto competed in the 28th competition, wearing #95 (the highest number for non all-stars that tournament), but he timed out on the second Warped Wall. Nakano competed in the 29th competition, but he failed the Jump Hang Kai, while trying to grab both nets.

Various American athletes, including Olympic gymnasts (and twin brothers) Paul and Morgan Hamm, have competed in Sasuke. Paul made it to the second stage in the 14th and 16th competitions but failed to make it further – in the 14th, he cleared Wall Lifting but forgot to hit the button at the end before time ran out, and in the 16th, he was eliminated by the Metal Spin. He competed in the 15th competition as well, but he failed to make it past the first stage's Warped Wall. Morgan timed out in the first stage before he could attempt the Rope Climb in the 14th competition, but he made it to the third stage in the 15th, failing on the Curtain Cling. In the 16th competition, he failed the first stage's Warped Wall.

DecathletePaul Terek competed four times in total. He first appeared in the 17th competition, making it to the third stage before failing the Cliff Hanger. The announcer pointed to his immense size (6 foot 3 and 215 pounds) as a barrier to his advancement. After earning the title of Pro Sportsman No. 1 in 2007, Terek appeared in the 19th competition but failed the first stage's Jumping Spider. He helped G4 oversee the 2nd American Ninja Challenge competition in early 2008, but he did not compete in Sasuke's 20th competition due to his training for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (though he eventually had to drop out of the running for the Olympics after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee). He made his return to Sasuke in the 22nd competition but failed on a new obstacle in the first stage, the Slider Jump. He failed the same obstacle in Sasuke 24. In 2010, Paul Terek announced his retirement from international competition, so it is likely he will never compete again.

Levi Meeuwenberg, a free runner from G4's American Ninja Challenge 2, first competed in Sasuke 20, where he was one of only three people to clear the first stage and the only person to clear the second stage. He cleared stage 2 with a record time of 38.5 second left. He failed the third stage's Shin-Cliff Hanger. In the 21st competition, he failed the Salmon Ladder in the second stage; in the 22nd, he failed the new Slider Jump; in the 23rd, he made it back to the third stage but again failed the Shin-Cliff Hanger again. He missed the 24th competition but returned for the 25th, where he failed the first obstacle of the second stage, the Slider Drop. However, he couldn't compete in the 26th competition after breaking his wrist while participating in Jump City: Seattle, a televised professional parkour tournament.

Levi did not compete in American Ninja Warrior 3 to try to earn a spot for SASUKE 27 because of a big movie scene that came up for him during the time of the tryouts.

Levi however did compete American Ninja Warrior 4, however he failed the Quad Steps (Godantobi in Japanese), the very first obstacle. It was clear he was very tired as he had flown in from the Philippines hours beforehand and tried to rush.

He has not competed in American Ninja Warrior ever since. It is known that he stopped free running altogether, and became a farmer instead. He is also a stuntman for movies and only does a little of Parkour and Freerunning.

In the four times he completed the first stage, he had the fastest time out of everyone who finished Stage 1.

† - Levi was supposed to compete in the 26th tournament, having earned a spot in the American Ninja Warrior preliminaries, but was ultimately unable to do so after breaking his wrist on Jump City: Seattle, which occurred prior to the 26th tournament. His spot in the tournament went to ANW alternate, Adam LaPlante (who failed on the Halfpipe Attack in Stage 1).

Drew Drechsel (ja), an American Gym Trainer known as "Real Life Ninja". He also participated in American Ninja Challenge and then became an American Ninja Warrior stalwart once NBC and G4/Esquire created an entire American-based Sasuke competition, he competed in Sasuke 30 (reaching the third stage), after he won the SASUKE Asean Open Cup 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (where he achieved gold medal in overall stages) and ANW Season 7 & 8 (where he is to compete in the Vegas Finals) in the space of a calendar year. He competed again in SASUKE 31 and failed the Crazy Cliffhanger. He made the fourth appearance in SASUKE 32, he is the first person ever to beat the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger and the third American to clear the Japanese Cliffhanger, after Travis Allen Schroeder in Sasuke 4 and Kane Kosugi in Sasuke 8, but he failed the next obstacle Vertical Limit Kai. In SASUKE 33, he failed the second trial on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, due to timing problems on the moving ledge. He fell on the same place just like the last tournament in SASUKE 34.

Bulgarian gymnast and six-time Olympian (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) Yordan Yovchev (spelled on G4 as Jordan Jovtchev) first competed in the 8th competition. During that competition he reached the final stage but became the first competitor to suffer a 15-second timeout on the initial Spider Climb portion, falling when it spread apart. Rain and a two-second late start also hurt his performance. He made it to the third stage three more times in competitions 12, 14, and 16, failing the Cliff Hanger each time. He competed in the 15th competition but failed the Warped Wall in the first stage. He later came back to compete in Sasuke 20, where he failed the Warped Wall again. He also competed in Sasuke 23, where he managed to pass all of the other obstacles but sadly timed out on the final rope ladder.

South Korean gymnast Yeo Hong-chul, silver medalist in the men's vault at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He competed four times but has never gotten past the first stage. In the 7th competition, he was unable to beat the Rolling Log; In the 8th, he failed the Quintuple Step; In the 11th, he timed out on the Warped Wall. And in the 12th, he timed out on the Rope Climb.

Spanish gymnast Gervasio Deferr, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Champion in the vault and 2008 silver medalist in the floor exercise, competed in the 10th competition but timed out a few feet from the buzzer on the first stage's Rope Climb.

Lee En-Chih (ja) (who was incorrectly listed as Lee Yen Chi in the US version and was mistakenly called Lee Enchi or Li En Zhi for years), is a professional rock climber from Taiwan. In his first attempt in SASUKE 17, he cleared the first stage but failed the second stage's Metal Spin. In SASUKE 18, he failed the Jumping Spider in first stage. After two tournament absence, he competed in SASUKE 21 and was one of only nine competitors to make it to the second stage, timing out on Wall Lifting. In SASUKE 22, he was one of four people to make it to the third stage, ultimately failing the Shin-Cliff Hanger. In SASUKE 23, he failed the second stage's Metal Spin. In SASUKE 24, he made it to the Final Stage for the first time but timed out 19 meters up. Li became the third foreigner to reach the Final Stage since Yordan Yovchev and Kane Kosugi in SASUKE 8. In SASUKE 25, he went to the third stage, but he failed the Ultimate Cliff Hanger. He made it back to the Ultimate Cliff Hanger in SASUKE 26, but again failed there. In SASUKE 25 and 26, Li finished overall first, becoming the only foreigner to have progressed further than any competitor in consecutive tournaments. After making it to the Ultimate Cliff Hanger 2 times, it looked like Li would go all the way in SASUKE 27. However, he shocked many when he failed the Step Slider in stage 1. This was his earliest defeat ever, and first time failing stage 1 since SASUKE 18. He failed the first stage yet again in SASUKE 28, on the Spinning Bridge. He finally cleared the First Stage again in SASUKE 29, but timed out on the Passing Wall, on the second stage. He failed the Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 30. He decide to retire from SASUKE due to regeneration from Taiwan Representatives. Since SASUKE 31, his fellow Liao Long Zhun fully reign the Taiwan Representatives. He is also the only foreigner to clear Stage One 6 times in a row (SASUKE 21-26).

Ragivaru Anastase (ja), a Tahitian Dance Instructor, competed in SASUKE 31. He's got the fastest with 35 seconds left. But he failed on the Crazy Cliffhanger. Then, he joined in SASUKE 32. He was the fastest time again in the First Stage and Second Stage, but he failed the Flying Bar when he run the obstacle in a bad weather. In SASUKE 33, his run was digested and surprisingly failed the Rolling Hill. He made it to the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 34 and fell before the first transition.

K-1mixed martial artistGenki Sudo has competed in five tournaments, failing at the Jump Hang (6th, 12th), the Rolling Log (13th), Duodectuple Step (23rd), and the Log Grip (24th). Another mixed martial artist, Sanae Kikuta competed in the 8th and 10th tournaments, where he fell off of the Rolling Log in the first stage; in the 12th tournament, he fell on the Plank Bridge in the first stage. Other K-1 fighters who have competed include Tatsuji (19th competition, failed the Jumping Spider), Yudai (20th competition, failed the Rokudantobi), Andy Ologun (18th competition, failed the Rope Glider; 20th Competition, failed the Log Grip), Bobby Ologun (22nd Competition, failed the Log Grip), Bernard Ackah (19th competition, failed the Jumping Spider), and Takeru has competed in four tournaments, failing the Hedgehog (30th), Warped Wall (31st), Tarzan Rope (32nd) when his foot touched the water, cleared the First Stage (33rd) but failed the Salmon Ladder Nobori. Backstream (34th).

Takeru's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

30th

2988

Failed Hedgehog

First

31st

83

Failed Warped Wall

First

32nd

81

Failed Tarzan Rope

First

33rd

81

Failed Salmon Ladder Up

Second

34th

81

Failed Backstream

Second

Former Pride Fighting Championships and Pancrase Japanese mixed martial artist and pro wrestler Ikuhisa Minowa, competing in DREAM known as "Minowaman", was featured in the 26th competition wearing red wrestling tights, pads, and boots. He failed the second obstacle, "Hazard Swing" after jumping from the swing, and missing the rope on the platform, falling into the water below. He also competed in the 29th competition, but failed the first obstacle, the "Long Jump", where he landed feet first onto the sandbox and jumped backwards into the water. Japanese featherweight mixed martial artist from DREAM Hideo Tokoro, (announced as a "freelance fighter") was featured right after Minowaman in the 26th competition where he failed to grab the rope to swing himself to the other side in the first obstacle "Step Slider".

Several Japanese or Japan-based entertainers have taken part in Sasuke, including action movie star Kane Kosugi and his brother Shane. Kane made the third stage in the 1st, 4th and 6th competitions, failing on the Pole Bridge, Cliff Hanger and Body Prop, respectively. In the 7th competition, he made the second stage but failed the Spider Walk, his earliest exit from a competition. He reached the final stage in the 8th Competition, becoming, alongside Yordan Yovchev, the first foreigner to make it that far. Competing in heavy rain, Kane timed out on the rope climb; he has not competed since. Shane timed out on the second stage's Wall Lift in the 2nd competition, then failed the first stage's Rolling Log in the 3rd competition. In the 4th, he came close to completing the first stage but timed out on the Rope Climb. In the 6th and 7th competitions, he made it to the third stage, failing both times on the Body Prop. In the 8th competition, he failed to get past the first stage's Warped Wall. Unlike his brother, Shane competed in the 9th competition, where he failed the Big Boulder in the first stage.

Other entertainers who have competed include Hiromichi Sato (ja), host of several NHK children's programs; Shigeyuki Nakamura, a champion of the Muscle Gym event in Kinniku Banzuke; actor-singer Kazumi Morohoshi, a former member of the band Hikaru Genji who is now a solo artist; actor/announcer Kenjirō Ishimaru; and actors Masaki Nomura and Shōei. Sato debuted in the 18th tournament and failed the first stage's Flying Chute. In the 19th tournament, he failed the Log Grip. In the 20th competition, he timed out before he attempted the Tarzan Rope. In the 21st competition, he timed out on the Warped Wall. In the 22nd, Sato finally cleared the first stage but failed the Metal Spin in the second. In Sasuke 23, he failed the Jumping Spider. In Sasuke 24, he failed the Metal Spin again. He missed Sasuke 25, but failed the Jumping Spider again in Sasuke 26. He missed Sasuke 27 and 28 but competed in 29, where he shocked the crowd by unexpectedly going out on the first obstacle, the Long Jump. Nakamura made it to the third stage in the 2nd competition, failing there on the Pipe Slider, but in the 6th competition he was eliminated by the first stage's Jump Hang. Morohoshi debuted in the 20th tournament but failed the Log Grip in the first stage. Ishimaru has never made it past the first stage; his two closest attempts, in the 16th and 17th competitions, timed out on the Rope Climb. Shōei competed 3 times. He competed in Sasuke 6, and failed the Jump Hang when he tried to go under using only his arms. He timed out on the rope climb in stage 1 in Sasuke 7. He finally made it pass the first stage and second stage in Sasuke 8. He struggled in stage 3 on the Propeller bars, and failed the Body Prop.

Actor James Okada, a graduate from a martial arts academy, competed in the 6th and 7th competitions. In his first attempt, he failed the Jump Hang in the first stage, but in the next tournament, he made it all the way to the third, where he was defeated by the first obstacle, the Propeller Bars.

Actor and singer Tetsuji Sakakibara competed four times (23rd-26th tournaments) but never cleared the first stage, failing on the Jumping Spider in the 23rd and 24th tournaments, the Jump Hang in the 25th tournament, and the Half-Pipe Attack in the 26th tournament.

Actor Ryosuke Yamamoto competed in Sasuke 30 and Sasuke 31. He never completed the first stage failing in Jump Hang Kai in Sasuke 30. In Sasuke 31 he did slightly worse by failing the Orugōru (also known as the Music Box) before he can reach the Jump Hang Kai again.

Voice actressTomoko Kaneda competed in SASUKE 31. She failed the Rolling Hill on the first stage. Her husband Wataru Mori, an actor, also competed in several competitions. Mori was competed since SASUKE 16, he failed Rolling Log. Then he competed again in SASUKE 20 and failing Jumping Spider. After an 8-year hiatus, he competed again in SASUKE 32, he timed up on the Lumberjack Climb. He competed again in SASUKE 33, where he completed the first stage, and timed out at the Reverse Conveyor. In SASUKE 34, he surprisingly failed the last steps on the Quad Steps, his foot slipping to the left.

Mori's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

16th

64

Failed Rolling Log

First

17th - 20th

Did not compete

21th

11

Failed Jumping Spider

First

22th - 31st

Did not compete

32nd

82

Failed Lumberjack Climb

First

33rd

83

Failed Reverse Conveyer

Second

34th

90

Failed Quad Steps

First

Golden Bomber members Kenji Darvish and Yutaka Kyan also competed in Sasuke 31. Kyan failed the Rolling Hill on the first stage. Darvish has previously competed in Sasuke 28 and 30 and failed the first stage. In Sasuke 31, he finally completed the first stage and failed the Cross Slider in the second stage. In Sasuke 32, Kyan did it better in the Rolling Hill, but he lost his balance on the new obstacle Tie Fighter. Darvish failed at the Tie Fighter when he lost his balance. In Sasuke 33, Darvish almost clear the First Stage but shockingly failed the Lumberjack Climb only several centimeters to finish the obstacle. Kyan failed Quad Steps. In Sasuke 34, Darvish made it to the 2nd Stage, but he struggling in the Reverse Conveyor.

Darvish's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

28th

31

Failed Rolling Escargot

First

29th

Did not compete

30th

2979

Failed Lumberjack Climb

First

31st

82

Failed Cross Slider

Second

32nd

91

Failed Tie Fighter

First

33rd

82

Failed Lumberjack Climb

First

34th

89

Failed Reverse Conveyor

Second

ModelShimon Okura competed in Sasuke 30. He failed on the Log Grip on the first stage. He come again to Sasuke 31, he do it better on the Log Grip, but he missed the nets on the Jump Hang Kai. Then he joined in Sasuke 32. He fell on the new obstacle Double Pendulum when he try to get to the red sandbag.

Okura's results

Competition

Start position

Obstacle

Stage

30th

2941

Failed Log Grip

First

31st

30

Failed Jump Hang Kai

First

32nd

21

Failed Double Pendulum

First

A.B.C-Z member Ryoichi Tsukada competed in Sasuke 31, he timed out at the Lumberjack Climb. Then, he competed again on Sasuke 32. He completed the new obstacle Tie Fighter and Double Pendulum, but he failed to reach the top of the Warped Wall. In Sasuke 33, he cleared the First Stage for the first time. He failed Salmon Ladder Up. Johnny's Jr. Hikaru Iwamoto failed the transition from Quad Steps to the Rolling Hill.

Several Japanese comedians have taken part in Sasuke, including Akira Omori (ja) ("The Monkey"), Koriki Choshu ("the most famous gut in Japan" and 2nd on G4's Craziest Contestants Poll), Passion Yara ("screaming wacko" and 5th on G4s craziest contestants poll), Masaki Sumitani ("Razor Ramon H.G." or "Hard Gay"), Yoku Hata ("Guitar Samurai"), Tetsurō Degawa, and Kinnikun Nakayama (ja). Most of these compete for entertainment value and do not represent serious challenges – for example, Choshu's only accomplishment was being the first person to clear the Rope Glider in the 18th competition. However, some have seen success. Omori made it to the final stage three times in a row (1st–3rd competitions), a record that is shared with Sasuke all-star Makoto Nagano, but since then he has not been able to clear the first stage. Nakayama made it to the second stage in the 9th and 11th competitions; in the 9th, Nakayama failed the Spider Walk, and in the 11th, he missed hitting the second stage's final button by a split-second. He competed in Sasuke 27. He had footage showing himself training for the new course. He wore #30, and despite his training, he failed the Rolling Escargot when he could not get enough mommentum to get the structure spinning, and fell into the water when trying to restart the obstacle. He got revenge on it in the 28th tournament, but timed out on the second Warped Wall. In the 29th tournament, he almost cleared the first stage for the first time in 10 years, but ultimately, timed out at the top of the Rope Ladder. Recent comedians include, Yoshio Kojima, who competed in 5 competitions (22, 24, 26-28), where he failed at the Log Grip twice, Hazard Swing, Step Slider, and Rolling Escargot respectively. Funnyman Masumi Yagi was featured in the 26th competition but failed on the Step Slider. Cocky comedian, Eiko Kano (aka "Mr. Narcissus") was featured in the 25th competition and failed at the Dome Steps, but got past the first obstacle in the 26th competition and failed at the Rolling Escargot.

Penalty comedian Wakky (ja) competed 9 times in Sasuke. He debuted in Sasuke 20 and failed the Halfpipe Attack. In Sasuke 21 and 22, he failed the Jumping Spider. In Sasuke 23, he got revenge on both the Jumping Spider and the Halfpipe Attack, only to fail the Slider Jump. In Sasuke 24, he failed the Halfpipe Attack again. He returned for Sasuke 27 and cleared the First Stage for the first time. In the Second Stage, he failed the Double Salmon Ladder. In Sasuke 28, he timed out on the Rope Ladder. He advanced to the Second Stage in Sasuke 29 and 30, but failed the Swap Salmon Ladder.

65-year-old Minoru Kuramochi, known as "the Octopus" because he usually brings an octopus with him, is the owner of the Edokko Izakaya octopus bar in Tokyo and is one of the oldest competitors. He has competed several times, never making it very far into the first stage. Despite this, he seems to be a fan favorite. In the 20th Competition's preview special, he welcomed the G4 American Ninja Challengers to his bar, served them his special octopus meal, and showed off to them his physical skills. He is No. 4 on G4's Craziest Contestant poll. His best performance was in Sasuke 26, where he managed to make it to the Rolling Escargot. He got further than in Sasuke 19, when he timed out on the Pole Maze.

Toyohisa Ijima, a martial arts dance instructor and former member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, competed in the first several tournaments. He is known as the "Japanese Bruce Lee" because of his resemblance to the late action star, which extends to dressing and acting like him. He has only made it past the first stage in the 1st tournament; in the 11th tournament, he missed hitting the final button on the Rope Climb by a split second because he had wasted time posing for the crowd after completing each obstacle. He is No. 3 on G4's Craziest Contestant poll.

45-years old Katsuhide Torisawa is a former weightlifter who has competed in every single Shin-SASUKE tournament (except SASUKE 22), starting with SASUKE 18. He always displays his strength before his run; he has brought a barbell and lifted it over his head multiple times, ripped off his shirt, and crushed with one hand an apple, full cans of beer and also snapped a baseball bat in half. He has never cleared the first stage.

The first woman to have completed the first stage is former Super Sentai stuntwoman Chie Nishimura, who did so in the 2nd tournament.[8] She attempted the second stage's Spider Walk in a non-optimal fashion, because her legs were too short to reach across the obstacle the proper way, and failed. She also competed in Sasuke 3 but failed the Rolling Log. She hasn't competed in Sasuke since.

Masami Yusa (G4 mislists her first name as "Miyabi" in some tournaments), a beach flags champion, has competed 8 times. She debuted in Sasuke 6, but failed the Barrel Climb. In the Sasuke 13 trials, she became the first woman to beat the Jump Hang, although she timed out there. During the actual competition, she was able to grab on to the redesigned Jump Hang, but she misjudged her jump, slammed face-first onto the platform, and fell into the water; this failure earned her a "Warrior Wipeout" during G4's broadcasting of this tournament. In Sasuke 14, she became the first woman to beat the Jump Hang and the Crooked Wall in competition, but she ultimately timed out on the Warped Wall.

Rie Komiya has competed several times. She is a Kunoichi (Women of Ninja Warrior) 8 champion. She first competed in Sasuke 22, where she was disqualified on the Jumping Spider for falling on the safety mat just after the trampoline. She got her revenge in Sasuke 23, but she fell on the Halfpipe Attack. In Sasuke 24, she surprised many by failing the log grip. She did not compete in Sasuke 25, but did compete in Sasuke 26, and failed the Rolling Escargot and she competed again in Sasuke 27, where she failed the Rolling Escargot again.

Satomi Kadoi, the other Kunoichi 8 champion, competed in Sasuke 27 and failed the Halfpipe Attack.

Jesse Graff is an American stunt woman. She was invited to compete with Drew Drechsel in Sasuke 34. Jesse wore #87. She became only the second woman in Sasuke history to complete the first stage, doing so with 14.5 seconds left on the clock. She surprised everyone once again when she managed to complete stage 2 with 4.4 seconds left on the clock, becoming the very first woman to ever clear stage two in Sasuke. In stage 3, Jesse was off to a tremendous start, completing the first 3 obstacles in good form. However, despite Jesse's determination, she failed the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger when she attempted the first jump from the first to the second ledge and was unable to hold on.

In fall 2007, the G4 network held a contest called the American Ninja Challenge, whose grand prize was a trip to Japan to compete in Sasuke's 19th competition. Ten semifinalist videos were selected on August 3 via internet poll to determine three finalists who would appear on G4's Attack of the Show! on August 28–30 to demonstrate their Ninja Warrior skills. On August 31, Michigan State University Economics student Colin Bell and the runner-up, Greenville, South Carolina native Brett Sims, were both selected, and they became the subjects of an hour-long G4 special on November 14 during G4's Ninjafest. Ultimately, both Colin and Brett qualified for the course thanks to their impressive physical abilities, but they both failed the Jumping Spider.

The second contest by G4 wrapped up in March 2008 and aired as part of G4's Ninjafest 2 on May 18, 2008. Levi Meeuwenberg of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Brian Orosco of San Francisco, California were both chosen to compete in Sasuke's 20th tournament; both are free runners. They competed alongside surprise guest Brett Sims, who was given the opportunity to return by G4. Sims failed the first stage's Warped Wall, while Orosco failed the Flying Chute. Meeuwenberg, however, made it to the third stage before he ultimately failed the Shin-Cliff Hanger. In that tournament, he was the last man standing.

The third contest by G4 wrapped up in August 2008 and aired as part of G4's Ninjafest 3 on November 12, 2008. Viewers voted for their favorite competitors, the top three of whom would be flown to Japan to compete in Sasuke's 21st tournament. The winners were Brian Orosco (who qualified with a different video), gymnast Mark Witmer of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and free runner/stuntwoman Luci Romberg – the first woman to qualify – of Valley Village, California. They joined American Ninja Challenge 2 winner Levi Meeuwenberg and both hosts from Attack of the Show!, Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira, to compete in Sasuke 21. In that tournament, Munn failed the Sextuple Step, while Pereira's run ended after his feet hit the water on the Log Grip; on the TBS broadcast, Munn's run was shown only in part while Pereira's run was cut completely. Romberg failed the Halfpipe Attack, while Witmer failed the Log Grip due to a severe ulnar nerve injury that he suffered while warming up. Orosco completed the first stage with just 0.6 seconds left on the clock but failed the second stage's Salmon Ladder. Meeuwenberg cleared Stage 1 with the fastest time, with 21.5 seconds remaining, but similarly failed the Salmon Ladder.

The fourth contest by G4 wrapped up in March 2009 and aired on June 21, 2009 on G4 as part of Ninjafest 4. The competitors' videos were judged by Attack of the Show's Olivia Munn. The winner, David Campbell, was joined by Munn and previous competitors Levi Meeuwenberg and Luci Romberg. Munn failed the new Circle Hammer in the first stage; Romberg failed the first stage's Jumping Spider; Campbell timed out on the final first stage obstacle, the Rope Ladder, and later told the sideline reporter that he "underestimated the cardio" involved in the course. Meeuwenberg failed a new first stage obstacle, the Slider Jump.'

In summer of 2017 Jessie Graff went on to compete in Sasuke 34, wearing number #87. She made an impressive mark becoming the second woman in the show's history to clear Stage 1. She also kept the streak going when she became the first woman ever to clear Stage 2. During her Stage 3 run she showed great upper body strength on the course, getting through the first three obstacles, she made it to the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger when she failed the jump from the first ledge to the second ledge.

The following is a list of available information of people who achieved the best results in each competition and also the number of competitors who failed in the lower stages. Under each competition, the results are listed in order of best performance. Their names are listed along with their number (1-100) from the competition, and the stage/obstacle they failed to complete (or Total Victory). In the 10th competition the number system ran from 901-1000 to indicate that 1000 competitors had attempted the First Stage, and then ran from 1901-2000 in the 20th competition to indicate that 2000 competitors had attempted the First Stage, and from 2901-3000 during the 30th competition to indicate roughly 3000 attempts on Sasuke. All air dates are of the Japanese broadcast on TBS.

These winners are not including the "kanzenseiha" (Total Victory) winners from the original Japanese version, or under any other varied rules (including Team Ninja Warrior in Denmark and the United States).

The program previously aired on G4 in the United States under the name Ninja Warrior. Each episode now lasts thirty minutes and it also includes some minor changes in the on-screen graphics. Throughout the episode, there's the "Ninja Killer" (for the obstacle that took out the most competitors) and "Warrior Wipeout" (honors the best wipeout) segments. The Japanese play-by-play commentary and interviews with the competitors have English subtitles, while the competitor profiles, replays, and introductions were dubbed by voice actorDave Wittenberg.

The show became the highest rated program on the network since its debut. Aside from a few sporadic occurrences, reruns of Ninja Warrior stopped airing regularly sometime in December 2012 in wake of G4 slated to be rebranded as the Esquire Network on September 23, 2013. The last four episodes to air on G4 appeared as a 2-hour block on April 10, 2013. It is unknown if Ninja Warrior would return to the network's schedule or if some other channel would acquire the series. Commercials on G4 show American Ninja Warrior to air on G4 in July, marking it the last program being advertised on the network as a G4 program, and not an Esquire channel presentation.

As of August 3, 2016, an article released by USA Today says that "Esquire has obtained rights to 27 Ninja Warrior tournaments...along with all eight Kunoichi spinoff contests that feature only women contestants." and that they "...will return as a 63 hour Labor Day weekend marathon (Sept. 3, 7 a.m. ET/PT) in Japanese, with English subtitles." Whether this is referring to the original broadcasts or the G4 broadcasts is unknown right now due to little notice, but it seems to lean toward the G4 broadcasts. They also stated that "Additional newer tournaments of the series, never seen in the U.S., will debut next year."

The popularity of the American Ninja Challenge has led G4 to produce a version of the series featuring American contestants called American Ninja Warrior, which is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television, Inc and is currently hosted by Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Matt Iseman. Auditions on G4's website ended on August 18, 2009. Open tryouts were held in Los Angeles on August 29 and 30, 2009, and were taped for the show, with ten finalists competing on the 23rd tournament of the original Ninja Warrior course in Japan in September 2009. The eight-episode series began airing on December 12, 2009.

The qualifying round consists of over 300 competitors, running an obstacle course strongly influenced by Sasuke's first stage. The course consists of the Quintuple Step, a Rope Swing, the Jumping Spider, a modified version of the pipe slider, and a much smaller Warped Wall. The preliminaries used a leader board, and the 30 fastest times moved on to the semi-finals, which included the preliminary course plus three obstacles, the Tarzan Jump, the Jumping Bars, and a Net Climb.

American Ninja Warrior aired only the American finalists during the Sasuke obstacle course. The Japanese competitors were later aired on April 10, 2010.

A second season was cast on G4's website as of April 10, 2010 and aired in hour long specials starting December 8, 2010. The top 10 contestants would participate in Sasuke 26. Three episodes were run for the first two weeks. The first three episodes covered the opening round of the competition, the fourth covered the semifinals. This was followed by four days of a "boot camp" where the fifteen winners of the semifinals were divided into three five-man teams and put through several different Pressure Challenges, with the losing team having to complete a punishment while the other two teams got extra training time on models of some of the Sasuke obstacles (The Warped Wall, Double Salmon Ladder, Balance Tank, and Circle Slider). The teams would then run through a grouping of the obstacles with some sort of hindrance (Usually carrying something heavy between obstacles). The teams with the worst time would be forced to send two members to an elimination challenge, with the losing person forced to leave.

After boot camp, the ten final winners traveled to the Sasuke course to compete. Once again, only the American competitors were aired during the special, with the rest of the Sasuke competition to air later. The most successful of the American competitors in the past, Levi Meeuwenberg, withdrew from the competition due to a fractured wrist, giving his spot to Adam LaPlante. Five members failed in the First Stage: Patrick Cusic and former American Gladiators champion and gladiator Evan "Rocket" Dollard both fell from the new Rolling Escargot obstacle, LaPlante fell on the Halfpipe Attack and Adam Truesdell fell from the Giant Swing, a new variation of the Jump Hang, the only one out of all 100 competitors to do so in the whole tournament. In addition, veteran Shane Daniels once again timed out on the Cargo Net. In the Second Stage, four of the remaining five cleared, while Travis Furlanic fell on the Balance Tank, an obstacle he struggled on during Boot Camp. In the Third Stage, Paul Kasemir failed the Doorknob Grasper. Brent Steffensen made it to the Ultimate Cliffhanger before falling into the water. David Campbell, despite having the fastest times of all the competitors to complete (finishing the second stage with over 24 seconds left) failed at the Ultimate Cliffhanger as well. Brian Orosco fell at the very first obstacle, the Roulette Cylinder, which he had passed easily in the previous competition. While the $250,000 prize went unclaimed, Sasuke 26 was the start of a successful showing by a collection of American competitors.

The third season of American Ninja Warrior debuted on July 31 on G4, again with 300 competitors at the tryouts in Venice Beach. While many top competitors were absent including Levi Meeuwenberg, Rich King and Luci Romberg, a talented crop of new competitors took their place including Denver Broncos wide receiver Matt Willis, who finished the course but did not qualify for boot camp. Other notable competitors who failed to advance to boot camp included two-time Sasuke veteran Shane Daniels, season two veterans Evan "Rocket" Dollard, Adam Truesdell, Adam LaPlante and Patrick Cusic, top first round qualifiers from the previous season Trevor Vaughn and David Money, and former world freerunning champion Tim Shieff. In addition, professional freerunner and Survivor: China competitor Michael "Frosti" Zernow ranked in the top fifteen and was invited to boot camp, but injured himself and was replaced with fellow Jump City: Seattle competitor Jake Smith. Other competitors from Jump City who advanced to boot camp also included Brian Orasco, Drew Dreschel and David "Young Flip" Rodriguez. The level of competition in boot camp was noticeably higher in the third season, as competitors were only given one attempt at each obstacle in challenges, leading to large increase in time penalties. Promising competitors Dustin Rocho, Brandon Douglass, Alan Connealy, second-seeded qualifier Chris Wilczewski and five-time Sasuke veteran Brian Orosco all saw their Sasuke dreams come to an end at boot camp.

Of the ten who advanced to Sasuke, nine easily cleared the First Stage. The only exception was Dreschel, who injured his knee landing on the Halfpipe Attack, and despite a valiant attempt at the Warped Wall, was unable to put any weight on his leg and stated on his Facebook that he will not be available for Sasuke 28. The high hopes of the remaining nine took a major hit in the Second Stage, as five more were eliminated including Rodriguez on the Slider Drop, Smith on the Double Salmon Ladder, and newcomer Travis Rosen and veterans Travis Furlanic and Brent Steffensen on the Metal Spin. The remaining four competitors made it to the Third Stage only to be outdone by the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Ryan Stratis failed to make the fourth ledge while James McGrath and fan favorite Paul Kasemir failed the transition to the fifth ledge. The last competitor, David Campbell almost made it through the entire obstacle but on the final ledge his grip gave out. Even though no one earned a $500,000 K-Swiss Endorsement Deal, the competitors at Sasuke 27 were by far the strongest group of Americans to date. The final episode of the third season aired on NBC on August 29, 2011 as a two-hour special in prime-time.

A fourth season of the program began airing on May 20, 2012 and the show aired on both G4 and NBC for the Regionals and the Championship with the grand prize of $500,000 and the coveted American Ninja Warrior title. The entire format was changed as well - regional qualifiers in different parts of the country were aired and the Mt. Midoriyama course was recreated just off the Las Vegas Strip for the national finals. The regional qualifiers would narrow down its selections down to 30 contestants who finished its qualifying course in the fastest time as well as the contestants who finished the furthest the fastest. Qualifying obstacles would include common Stage 1 obstacles such as the Quintuple steps and the Warped wall, but its contents would change from city to city. The 30 contestants were then cut in half in the regional finals where the course would extend to include common Stage 2 and Stage 3 obstacles such as the Salmon Ladder, Cliffhanger and Body Prop. The 90 contestants who qualified (including wild cards) earned tickets to Las Vegas to challenge Mt. Midoriyama.

The show returned for its fifth season on July 1, 2013 in the same format. This season, if a contestant were to finish the course, that player would be guaranteed a spot in the next round. The show returned once again for its sixth season on May 25, 2014 on both NBC and Esquire Network with the same rules as in previous seasons. NBC has renewed the show for its seventh season in 2015 with the grand prize now doubled to $1,000,000. So far, it has produced, among other things, the endorsement of Makoto Nagano, the first American to complete the Ultimate Cliffhanger (Brent Steffensen in 2013), the first woman to complete the Salmon Ladder (Kacy Catanzaro in 2014), the first woman to complete the Jumping Spider (Meagan Martin, also in 2014), the first two Americans to achieve Total Victory (Isaac Caldiero and Geoff Britten on the same night in 2015) and the first female to complete Stage 1 of Mt. Midoriyama in Las Vegas (Jessie Graff in 2016). The network has renewed the show once again for its eighth season in 2016 with new qualifying cities including Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. The network has renewed the show for its ninth season in 2017 with another city, Kansas City.

In 2014, the first Sasuke-based team competition was started, pitting five Sasuke All-Stars and New Stars representing Japan against five American Ninja Warrior stars representing the United States in what was dubbed by some as the inaugural Sasuke/Ninja Warrior world championship. The first meeting took place at the Mt. Midoriyama reconstruction in Las Vegas and was first broadcast in America on January 13, 2014 on NBC, with a second meeting already scheduled for the original Mt. Midoriyama in Aoba-ku in 2015.

At the first match in Las Vegas, Team Japan was composed of Shingo Yamamoto, Yuuji Urushihara, Ryo Matachi, Hitoshi Kanno and Kazuma Asa from Sasuke, while Team USA was composed of Brent Steffensen, Paul Kasemir, James McGrath, Travis Rosen and Brian Arnold from American Ninja Warrior. The match was composed of four rounds - one on each stage, with each round being a best-of-five of one-on-one races and each competitor running once per stage until the stage outcome was decided. Stage 1 was worth one point, Stage 2 worth two points and Stage 3 worth three, with the tiebreaker being the Final Stage tower. Despite the Japanese boasting superior experience and pedigrees (no Team USA member had completed Stage 3, either in Yokohama or Las Vegas), the Americans pulled off a stunning 6-0 win that included only one Japanese one-on-one race win (Matachi against Arnold on Stage 3.)

With the success of American Ninja Warrior, Esquire Network announced a spin-off to the series called Team Ninja Warrior on October 9, 2015. The spin-off consists of 24 teams of three members featuring past and current ANW contestants from the first seven seasons. The series began airing on January 19, 2016 and is hosted by Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Matt Iseman with sideline reporter Alex Curry.

College Madness features college teams in a five-week competition. The second season began airing on November 22, 2016 with Iseman and Biama as hosts and ANW season six contestant Kacy Catanzaro as the sideline reporter.

The American-edited Ninja Warrior episodes are broadcast in the United Kingdom on Challenge. The show has been re-edited to remove the subtitles from the footage of the competitors taking part in the stages, but retain them for contestant interviews. The "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout" sections remain, but there is only one advertisement break halfway through the show.

The show was voiced-over by Stuart Hall for its first three series, aired between 2007 and 2008. In the fourth UK series, aired in 2011, Jim North took over as the voice-over. Challenge has now removed Hall's commentary from the first three series, following his imprisonment in June 2013, and re-dubbed them with new commentary by North. As of July 2012, all American edited episodes, covering all tournaments up to Sasuke 27, had aired in the UK. A new run of edited episodes airing in March 2016 was produced in the UK for Challenge, covering the Sasuke Rising tournaments, still voiced by North.

American Ninja Warrior and Swedish Ninja Warrior are broadcast in Australia on SBS Two. The play-by-play commentary and interviews with participants are subtitled in English, while the introduction, player profiles, and replays have been dubbed by a voice actor.

An unlicensed Chinese edition, 极限勇士 (Sasuke China: X Warrior), started on June 9, 2015 on Jiangsu TV. While the show contains courses directly based on American Ninja Warrior 6 and follows a similar structure, the version is unofficial and not directly related to Sasuke. Chinese edition contains four international competitions, the Chinese team playing head-to-head matches again contestants from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Singapore and the notable contestants from American Ninja Warrior.

The program is broadcast in Colombia on Canal Uno on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 PM, and broadcast Version of American Ninja Warrior (as Guerrero Ninja Americano) on Canal RCN on Saturday and Sunday at 4:00 PM.

In 2016, the inaugural season of Ninja Warrior France aired, on TF1, with Midoriyama located in Cannes. The show is titled Ninja Warrior — Le Parcours des Heros.[NB 1] The obstacle course itself is called Le Chemin des Héros.[16][17]

The Ninja Warrior version of the program is broadcast in Italy on GXT or on GXT +1. The Italian version includes "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout". In October 2016, Italy produced a local version Ninja Warrior Italia transmitted on NOVE and presented by Federico Russo, Carolina Di Domenico, Massimiliano Rosilino and Gabriele Corsi.

The program is broadcast in Mexico on Azteca 7 as Guerrero Ninja From Monday to Thursday at 8:30 PM.

In 2011, Malaysia did a qualifier for Sasuke 27, which Farid Isham won. In 2014, Malaysia organized the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup, a tournament held in Malaysia as a competition of different countries going head to head. Team USA was represented by David Campbell, Brian Kretsch, Ryan Stratis, Mike Bernardo, and Drew Drechsel and won gold. Team Japan was represented by Shingo Yamamoto, Yusuke Morimoto, Kazuma Asa, Hitoshi Kanno, and Kenji Takahashi and won silver. Team Malaysia won bronze with their team captain being Farid Isham. There were 3 stages and the tournament went for 2 days. Also, Drew Drechsel got 1st Place in all 3 stages, giving him a spot in Sasuke 30.

The program can be seen in the Serbia as Nindža Ratnici (Ninja Warriors) every day from Monday until Friday at 19:00 (UTC+1) on B92(from 13 August 2012), narrated by Igor Brakus and Vladimir Đorđević. The program was previously seen on Fox TV (now Prva TV), narrated by Ivan Tešanović and Miljan Milićević.

The program broadcast in Singapore is the non-edited version of Ninja Warrior, with the exception of the subtitles being white instead of yellow. The program will be broadcast on MediaCorp Channel 5 every Wednesday at 20:00 (UTC + 8) and screened two episodes back to back. It was later moved to Thursday at 20:30 (UTC + 8), airing one episode. The show's run ended with the 17th competition on the Sasuke series.

The show returned on December 23, 2009, airing Wednesdays at 20:00, showing at various times two episodes, three episodes, or a single episode. The show's run ended with the 24th run.

Singapore has its own edition of Sasuke, which aired on August 9, 2012 at 8:10 pm, after the National Day Parade. It started airing August 15, 2012, and has its own winner going to Japan to take on the Sasuke course.

Season 1 was won by 22-year-old SAF's Naval Officer, Isaiah How Jia Jie, he was placed 9th in the first stage but managed to beat 21 year old NUS student, Jenson Ngoh by 0.1 seconds in the season's 20 meter rope climb in the second stage to win.

Season 2 began with a new twist in its first episode, 5 Singaporean contenders will compete with 5 Malaysians contenders, whichever country score the first 3 points will make it to the end. Eventually Team Singapore beat Team Malaysia with a score of 3-2. For the competition, 26-year-old gymnastics trainer edge out the other 12 contenders for the season with the timing of 23.9 seconds, just 2.4 seconds shy by breaking Isaiah How's timing, he accompanied Isaiah to Japan in supporting him. However, in a twist of events, the production crew brought good luck to Alan Zhang in allowing him in participating it.

The series concluded in its 13th and final episode with Isaiah How & Alan Zhang conquering the obstacle course in Mount Midoriyama, Japan, both crashed out in the fourth obstacle (Jump Hang Kai) and third obstacle (Spinning Bridge) in the 1st stage respectively.

Sasuke Vietnam Season 1 began airing on June 18, 2015. Stage 1 was a split course that shared the first two obstacles (long jump, log grip), but then split into stage 1A and stage 1B. The obstacles on each side were different, and the top 20 fastest times on each side advanced to stage 2. In stage 2, common sasuke obstacles (salmon ladder, double warped wall) appeared, and competitors had 100 seconds to clear this stage. Only 8 competitors made it to stage 3, which featured typical stage 3 obstacles: pole maze, spinning bridge, rumbling dice, spider flip, cliffhanger, and pipe slider. All competitors failed on stage 3, with Le Van Thuc making it the furthest (failed dismounting onto the platform from the pipe slider).

Sasuke Vietnam Season 2 began airing on May 19, 2016. Stage 1 again included a split course but this year, the first two obstacles were the quad steps and log grip.

Sasuke executive producer Ushio Higuchi (ja) co-created Muscle Musical (ja), a live athletic and comedy-oriented performance featuring several notable Sasuke and Kunoichi competitors, who have included Ayako Miyake, Naoki Iketani, Sayaka Asami, Terukazu Ishikawa, Kayo Haga, Daisuke Nakata, and Rie Komiya, as well as other Japanese athletes and entertainers. Its popularity in Japan and its growing popularity in the United States has resulted in a long-term run at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Every January TBS airs the Pro Sportsman No.1 competition, also produced by Monster9. Several people who have competed on Sasuke have participated in this competition.

On Odaiba island, Monster9 has built Muscle Park, an indoor theme park based on events from Sasuke and other Muscle Ranking related programs. Some well-known Sasuke participants, such as Katsumi Yamada, have made live appearances there. Sasuke champion Makoto Nagano was honored in a celebration where he participated in the ribbon cutting there.[18] Since April 2007, Monster9 has been airing episodes of Muscle Channel,[19] a show to promote Muscle Park, the Muscle Musical, and people and events related to Sasuke. Muscle Channel usually airs on BS-i on Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:53 JST and is hosted by Hiromichi Sato. Past guests include Katsumi Yamada[20] and Shunsuke Nagasaki.[21]